Blogs You May Have Missed:
Featured Blog of the Week
How to Create 65% More Retirement Income in 10 Years
When it comes to retirement, income—not account balance—is what determines your lifestyle. In this week’s blog, I walk through a side-by-side comparison of two retirees with the same $500,000 starting balance and the same 10-year timeline to retirement—but dramatically different outcomes. One strategy relies entirely on the market and the traditional 4% rule. The other uses an income-focused approach designed specifically to create reliable lifetime income.
The result? A 65% difference in annual retirement income—without taking on more risk. The comparison highlights why the final 10 years before retirement are so critical, how sequence-of-returns risk can quietly derail a plan, and why growth and income require very different tools. If you’re within 10 years of retirement, this is a must-read.
👉 Read the full blog here
Safe Money Strategies
3 Market Strategies for Retirement: Income, Inflation, Long-term Care, and Legacy Building
Most people think of the market as a growth engine—but in retirement, how and when you use the market matters far more than raw returns. In this week’s blog, I break down why the market can either quietly destroy a retirement plan or become one of its most powerful support tools, depending on how it’s positioned across different stages of retirement.
I outline three intentional roles the market should play: protecting income during the critical 5–10 years around retirement, using Social Security as a flexible risk-management lever (not a fixed rule), and allowing long-term market growth to fuel inflation protection, healthcare costs, and legacy goals—after income is secure. If you’re approaching retirement or already there, this framework can completely change how confident and resilient your plan feels.
👉 Read the full blog here
Safety-first Income Planning
How a 58-Year-Old Couple Used a Two-Phase Annuity Strategy to Create Predictable Income, Protect Against Inflation, and Still Build Legacy Wealth
If you’re within 3–5 years of retirement, the decisions you make right now matter more than most people realize. In this week’s blog, I walk through how one couple used a two-phase income strategy to lock in predictable retirement income early—without sacrificing long-term growth, flexibility, or legacy. Instead of relying on market withdrawals during the riskiest years of retirement, they engineered guaranteed income first and let growth work patiently in the background.
The result? About 75% of their retirement income is guaranteed on day one, a significantly lower portfolio withdrawal rate, and a built-in inflation raise later in retirement—without increasing market stress. It’s a powerful example of how safety-first income planning can reduce risk early while still producing strong long-term outcomes.
👉 Read the full blog here